Day 0 - Acadia

A panoramic view along the ride around Acadia

Today was pretty amazing. It was an early morning, and I was so glad I was able to stay with Dani just across the river. It was a pretty easy commute into Boston and after a little hiccup, I found the park with all the other riders. I parked my car, and started hauling down all my stuff – I may have overpacked. I got down to the park and had some time to kill, so I grabbed breakfast and did a little check in with the internet before hopping on the bus.

It was a 5 hour bus ride up, and we had a pitstop for lunch. We all ended up going to the same place at the “service plaza” so lunch took a little longer than intended. The bus had wifi, so I was able to get some work done, which was nice. We finally arrived in Bar Harbor around 3.

We unloaded the bus and headed off to our hotels to get checked in. I grabbed all my bags and did a bit of reorganizing before heading back down to go out on a ride. We had the option of doing a 22 mile loop ride in Acadia National Park and I just couldn’t miss out on this chance. Ever since I received Jack Perkins' photography book about Acadia, I've wanted to visit here.

 It was sooo beautiful. The area is just really craggy and then on the other side of the road is the ocean and the harbor. Absolutely stunning! The pictures really don’t do it justice. Every corner we came around we just ooohed and ahhhed at how majestic it was. I really would have loved to spend more time there, but sadly we had limited time before the sun went down. It was a lot of hill work to start the ride, but a good way to get loose after the long bus ride. There were times we were flying and times we... weren't.

My Fellow Riding Buddies 

Then it was time for a quick shower, some food – a check-in call with mom – and then some mingling time with other riders in town. Bar Harbor is such a cute little town and I was a little bummed I didn’t have more time to explore it. I will definitely have to come back and spend some more time here.

Right now, I am EXHAUSTED but I wanted to check in with you all and let you know how the first day went. Tomorrow we get started – 76 miles on the agenda! If you haven't heard, I've decided to increase my fundraising goal, since we did such an awesome job raising $2000 over the last two weeks! I've pushed my goal to $5000 and I'd love to hit that before I finish up in Boston on Monday. To donate, just head on over to my fundraising page.